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Lucid Motors has launched its first SUV model, which the Saudi-backed electric-vehicle maker hopes will widen its pool of potential customers, boost earnings and reverse a steep slide in its stock.
The California start-up said on Tuesday the Gravity Grand Touring model would be available for order from November 7 and cost $94,900, followed by a cheaper Touring model in late 2025 costing $79,900.
It said the seven-seat sport utility vehicle had a range of more than 440 miles, among the best of any vehicle in its class.
Lucid is one of a small group of pure-EV start-ups, including truckmaker Rivian, trying to compete with traditional automakers pivoting to electric such as Volkswagen, Kia Hyundai and General Motors, as well as market leader Tesla.
Lucid markets itself as having more advanced battery technology, driving range and software than competitors.
However, western EV makers are contending with a slowdown in customer demand and an enduring preference for hybrid engines, as well as a glut of cheaper offerings from Chinese manufacturers.
Lucid’s chief executive Peter Rawlinson, the former chief vehicle engineer at Tesla, has characterised the Gravity SUV as core to a turnaround of the business, whose stock has slid 95 per cent from its peak in November 2021, resulting in a bailout from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.
PIF-linked funds now own about 60 per cent of the company and injected a further $1.5bn in August, taking its total investment to about $8bn. Rawlinson has said that he cannot rely on the “bottomless wealth” of its benefactor and would have to find ways to cut costs and boost sales.
Until now, Lucid had only made one model, the Air sedan, and struggled to get traction in the increasingly competitive EV field with a basic model costing almost $70,000. The Gravity SUV is also priced at the top end of the market, but if leased it is eligible for the US clean vehicle tax credit up to $7,500.
Longer-term, the company is designing a smaller, more affordable vehicle that will be produced at a factory under construction in Saudi Arabia as soon as 2026.
Earlier this month, Lucid said it delivered 2,781 vehicles in the third quarter, beating analysts’ expectations and up from 2,110 in the three months prior.
It aims to produce more than 9,000 Air models in 2024 — far fewer than the 462,890 Tesla vehicles delivered in the third quarter — and to pare the net loss of $2.8bn that it made in 2023.
This story has been amended to state that Lucid is aiming to produce more than 9,000 models in 2024, not deliver them.
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